


Means To An End

by Silverbreeze424



Category: The Penumbra Podcast
Genre: Angst, Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Reconciliation, Season 3, but not as much as I expected
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-31
Updated: 2019-07-31
Packaged: 2020-07-27 22:02:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,670
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20053228
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silverbreeze424/pseuds/Silverbreeze424
Summary: Peter Nureyev and Juno Steel finally talk about their goddamn feelings but it takes Juno almost dying to do it





	Means To An End

**Author's Note:**

> Shout out to all my pals on the Thief of Hearts server for getting me to actually write for once. Y’all have every single one of my uwus

In Juno Steel’s experience, absolutely nothing goes according to plan, but for a moment he thought this one heist could, perhaps, be the exception.

They were on a mission to steal a sacred Venusian artifact from the mansion of a former thief by the name Francis Scott, on one of Saturn’s moons. They were to return to artifact to Venus, for a couple thousand creds and the satisfaction of doing the right thing, more or less.

Nureyev (though he was currently going by Laurence Snow) had successfully managed to occupy so much of the other thief’s attention that she didn’t even notice that her finger print was being scanned and printed. Juno could here the tick of the tiny 3D printer from the other side of the bar, but she was too busy sipping a colorful drink and tittering at Snow to notice at all.

“Well, I’m terribly sorry, but I’ll have to dismiss myself. I’ll be back in just a moment, but each moment without you feels so much longer.” Snow grabbed her hand and placed a kiss on the back of it, before, quite literally, bowing out. 

Juno waited a moment, before following after him. He could feel the other thief’s eyes boring into him, but hoped it was just her gaze still lingering after Snow.

They walked silently, on opposite sides of the hallway, Juno trailing a bit behind. The only sounds were the muffled music from the ballroom, the click of Snow’s heels, and the heavy thud of Juno’s boots.

And then there was the click of Juno’s earpiece turning on, and Rita’s voice was flooding his ears.

“Mistah Steel, the guards are comin’!” She gasped, panic clear in her voice.

“Why-“

“I think that Francis lady saw you goin’ after Snow an got worried, which woulda been real sweet of her if she weren’t such a jerk and puttin the two a you in danger!”

“Got it, how long-“ Juno began, but his question was answered as the hallway was flooded with heavy foot steps. He turned to warn Nureyev-

And he was already gone. Juno’s heart plummeted. Of course. It was only fair. Juno was well aware that any fondness Nureyev had for him was gone. Of course he would leave Juno behind, make his great escape without Juno slowing him down.

The twisting in his gut was enough to have Juno stumbling and that was all the guards needed to catch up to him. It was too late to run, but Juno was perfectly capable of fighting. He spun on his heels and whipped out his blaster in one fluid motion.

These guards seemed to subscribe pretty firmly to the “shoot first, ask questions later,” philosophy. Juno managed to dodge the first shot from guard #1, and gained an important piece of intel in doing so- the guards were using old fashion guns, not blasters- less likely to kill, perhaps, but much more likely to injure.

Juno pulled out his blaster, and returned fire. Guard #1 went down, but his shots on the other two went wide. Luckily, their aim seemed to be just as- oh. Seems like Juno spoke to soon, as a bullet buried itself right above his left hip. He grunted against the pain, left hand pressing against the wound. In the back of his mind, he wondered if the bullet had gone all the way through, but doubted it. It was gonna be a pain to fish out later, but that would only be an issue if he made it out of this alive.

He managed to take out guard #2, but received another bullet in his right shoulder for his efforts. He couldn’t muffle a yell as his blaster fell to the floor, quickly followed by the rest of his body. His left hand suddenly wasn’t sure what wound to apply pressure to, but he supposed it wouldn’t matter in a second. The final guard was getting closer, his dominant arm was disabled, and his blaster was out of reach. He couldn’t even stand up if he tried. He could barely even breath.

The guard’s feet come in to view, followed by the cold weight of her gun against his temple. He went still, waited hear the safety click, then grabbed for her leg with his left arm. He wrapped his hand around her ankle, and pulled her off balance. Her gun fired, but only managed to graze the skin just above the temple. Juno scrambled over top of her, pinning her with the limp weight of his right arm and grabbing for his blaster with the other. Her own gun is out of her reach, but she doesn’t need it. Instead, she dug her fingers into the bullet hole in Juno’s shoulder, and he screamed. As his vision swum with pain, and maybe tears, he managed to grabs his blaster and slam it against her skull, hard enough to knock her out. He pushed himself off of her, and pulled himself to his feet with the help of the nearest wall.

The sound of gun fire will bring other guards. He hopes that Nureyev is safe, wherever he is.

Just as the thought crossed his mind, he heard the rhythmic click of heels against the floor, and as he turned around, Nureyev came into view, duffel bag under his arm.

He seemed to notice the bodies of the guards first, before his eyes drifted to Juno and widened, just a bit. He dropped the duffle bag to the floor before rushing over to Juno.

“Hey. Nice of you to make it.” Juno grunted as Nureyev crowded him against the wall, hands fluttering over the bullet wounds. 

“Oh Juno, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, I-“

Nureyev cut himself off as Juno slumped against him, hands clasping weakly at the back of the thief’s dress.

“No, ‘m sorry. I’m sorry, Peter.”

“We can talk about this later, Juno.”

“No I-“ Juno coughed, and buried his face in Nureyev’s shoulder. “I don’t know if we can and if we can’t I- I need you to know I’m sorry. I’m so sorry for leaving you without a word.”

“I’m sorry too, now come on, let’s get you to Jet and Vespa can patch you up and we can talk about this later,” Nureyev said, bordering on pleading. He moved away from Juno, wrapping an arm around him to try and support him, but instead the former detective just fell to his knees, legs going limp beneath him.

“Juno, you wilting flower, get up!” He hissed, kneeling down and trying to pick Juno up from the floor, but finding the man much too heavy. He kneeled down beside him, bringing him close to his body. He didn’t know which one of them was shaking.

“I knew I couldn’t leave. I knew I wasn’t ready, but I just, you said you loved me and after everything we’d been through I just wanted to be happy, just for that night, and I was-“ Juno broke out into a series of coughs again, and Nureyev held him closer. “I’m sorry, Peter. I’m so sorry.”

And Juno went limp in his arms.

oOo

Juno woke up, which was unexpected in of itself. What was even more unexpected was the cool, long-fingered hand clutching his own.

“Nur- Snow?” Nureyev’s hand tightened around Juno’s as the thief sat bolt upright. He looked over Juno with desperate speed, before relaxing just a bit.

“I’m here, Juno. And so are you.”

“Yeah I... I guess so.” Juno glanced around the makeshift med bay. Nureyev was seated on the slightly cushioned folding chair that was a staple of the med bay, hunched over Juno and holding his right hand in both of his own. Juno’s left arm was hooked up to an IV, and he was naked save for his boxers and the bandages wrapped around his torso and shoulder. 

“Juno I... I think we should talk.”

Juno swallowed harshly, but nodded.

“I... can you tell me why you left?”

“I was scared, Nureyev. That night I allowed myself to hope that we could be together, but when the adrenaline wore off and I had a moment alone in my head I just... I couldn’t believe that everything would go according to plan. I couldn’t believe we could travel the stars together and that you’d... you’d love me the whole time. I wasn’t ready to run away, to leave Hyperion, to let... to let myself be happy, and I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done this to you. I should have at least told you, we could’ve talked, but instead I just... left, and there’s nothing I can do now to change that, but please believe me when I say I’m so sorry, Nureyev.”

“I... I am not without blame. I shouldn’t have asked you to change your entire way of life so soon after a near death experience. I’m sorry Juno, it was unfair of me.” Nureyev squeezed Juno’s hand tighter in his own. Juno responded with a small laugh, barely more than an exhale, and squeezed Nureyev’s hands in return.

“What a pair we are.” Nureyev said, and when Juno finally turned to look at him, there was a fond smile on his face. It took all of Juno’s strength not to cry, and if he teared up a bit, he’d blame it on the pain later.

“Yeah.” Juno agreed, and finally let himself relax. “So, uh, what- what do we do from here?”

“That’s- a good question. What do you recommend, detective?”

“Uh,” Juno swallowed, and glanced over at Nureyev, who had a knowing smile on his face, but wasn’t saying a thing. “Goddamnit. Just come over here and kiss me already before I pull my stitches.”

“You need only ask, Juno,” he said with a vulpine smile, and he stood to press a light kiss to Juno’s lips.

It wasn’t as impassioned as Juno might have hoped, but he realized there’d be plenty of time for that later.


End file.
